Never Too Late
by LokFan1997
Summary: Lin has always been close with Bumi, He's been her best friend since they were children but now she's realizing that he has more than just her friendship he has her heart. Rating may change in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Never Too Late**

Its six months after the equalist fiasco and a bright sunny day in Republic City as newly reinstated Chief of Police Lin Beifong sits at her desk doing paper work. Within the last six months the crime rate in Republic City has basically dwindled down to nothing and all seems to be right as rain, But not all is right when our esteemed Chief of Police seems to be fighting an extreme case of boredom.

Lin lazily looks out her office window admiring the sunshine which hasn't seemed to shine this bright since she was a child. "I honestly haven't been this bored since I was teenager" Lin says to herself as she stacks more papers on her desk. All she seems to be doing lately is paper work, paper work, and oh more paper work but her days have been brighter and certainly more interesting since Bumi has been in town. Bumi who came in with his United Forces fleet after the defeat of Amon to help clean up and he's been in the city ever since.

"Bumi" Lin said with a dreamy sigh and a smile as she looked out her window once more. She'd been thinking of him way to often lately but considering they have spent pretty much every day together within the past few weeks didn't help either. Ever since Bumi's fleet was cleared to go back to sea and he decided to stay behind in the city he and Lin spent every evening together goofing off like the wild teens they once were.

Lin who was now packing up since she finished a whole weeks worth of paper work and decided she'd take off early for the day was rummaging through one of her desk drawers and finds and old picture of Bumi and her. She let out a slight chuckle as she laughed at the old memory the picture brought back. It was Bumi and her no older than fifteen and eighteen yrs of old grinning ear to ear with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist in front of the opening for Kuang's cuisine. They were both invited due to the high positions their parents held in the city and she decided to go with Bumi that night cause Tenzin was off doing some spiritual mumbo jumbo and Kya had a date.

Lin very carefully sticks the photo in her pocket "Maybe I'll show this to Bumi later, Spirits knows he would love to see it and make fun of how much we both look like idiots" she says to her self with a laugh as she makes her way to her office door. As she walked down the main hall of the police station Lin couldn't help but think of the past few days she and Bumi have spent together. She suddenly realizes she's smiling as she catches her reflection in one of the shiny interrogation room doors. "_I'm not supposed to be feeling this way about him, Why does he think he can just prance right back into my life and steal my heart after spirits know how long at sea" _She thinks to herself as she makes her way out the front of the police station.

On her walk back to her apartment she's still continually thinking about Bumi and how these feelings she's developed for him are starting to make her act like a teen whose fallen in puppy love. "Never in a million yrs would I ever though I would one day end up falling for Bumi I mean Bumi of all people" She frustratingly mumbles to herself as she nears her apartment. As she enters her apartment she thinks about his wild thick dark brown hair, His masculine jaw line, That goofy wild man grin that seems to have her heart melting and falling weak at the knees, And those strong arms that wrapped around her so tight the previous night as they walked around the park. "Why is this happening WHY" Lin says as she unceremoniously plops down on her couch not even bothering to metal bend her armor off or even make herself a cup of tea as she usually does when she returns home from work.

"Why do I love him" she says with an almost whisper "I love him but someone like him could never love someone like me…I'm to abrasive as Tenzin loves to put it" she says angrily. Sometimes just thinking of her past relationship with Tenzin makes her blood boil even though their friends again it still manages to bug her at times but her thoughts automatically go back to Bumi the man she loves the man she just realized she's always loved.

"I guess its never to late to tell someone how you feel" Lin says as she lets her self fall into a light slumber thinking of the wild man who has stolen her heart the man who has always had her heart.

**Authors note: Well this is the first fanfic I have written in four yrs and I hope its okay. Like I said I haven't written anything in four yrs due to one massive writers block and lack of time. **

**I would like to thank nycmb aka Mariska for inspiring me to write again, If it wasn't for her and her amazing fanfics I don't think I would be doing what I love again so Mariska if you read this thank you so so much for helping me wake up and realize that writing is my true passion. Te Amo Mucho **

**This will be a multi-chap and in the next we will get some of Bumi's point of view and the feelings he has having for Lin or better yet the feelings he's always had for Lin.**

**Please review it would help a lot to get your feedback. Also you can be harsh if you want to I very much enjoy constructive criticism, that's kind of what I thrive off of.**

**Also this fanfic was inspired by the song "Never Too Late" By Secondhand Serenade, If you listen to this song I guarantee you will feel the vibe and direction this story is taking and also it just gives you made feels in general.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Never Too Late, Chap. Two**

It was cool nippy evening in the now peaceful Republic City as Commander Bumi was strolling the streets on his way to the police station to see a certain police Chief. Bumi had just got done babysitting his nieces and nephews and was giddier than Fire Nation school girl that he was going to surprise Lin at her office. Little did our Commander know that Lin had taken off early for the day and was now in the middle of a great nap having dreams about him. As Bumi made his way down the street he decided to let his mind float to the memories of the night before when Lin and he had been strolling in the park after an evening of goofing off.

_**The night before**_

Lin and Bumi were walking around the park laughing and teasing each other about the good times they had as teenagers and the pranks they used to play on Tenzin. "You remember that time we stuck crab scorpions down Ten's back during morning meditation" Bumi says with a slap to his knee laughing like a crazy man. "Sure do" Lin says chuckling along with Bumi "The sounds of his shrill girly screams could be heard all the way in Ba Sing Se" she says starting to laugh louder at the memory of Tenzin running around screaming bloody murder. "It was just a few baby crab scorpions nothing dangerous" Bumi says starting to quiet down. "Yes but you know Ten is a little scared owl kitten when it comes to things like bugs and small crawling creatures, Boom" Lin say's with a light laugh and a wistful smile thinking of there days as Republic City's prank gang as her mother loved to call them.

They had been walking and laughing for a while when Bumi has to yawn but mid yawn our oh so sneaky Commander decides he'll wrap his arm around Lin. As Bumi yawns and then tightly wraps his arm around Lin he notices that she leans into his embrace and lays her head on his shoulder. He smiles to himself as she does this but then suddenly frowns thinking that she probably doesn't even realize she's doing it and is just leaning on him out of them being close friends and just being used to each other. But he doesn't let that get him down he, he wraps his arm tighter around her and they continue walking until they come to be standing on the park bridge over looking the water.

"I've missed this Bumi, I've missed this for so long" Lin says staring out looking at Yue's full moon reflection in the water. "Missed what Lin?" he asked her with a quizzical look. She slowly turns around in his embrace to face him and the moonlight hitting jade green eyes so perfectly that it made Bumi feel like he was going to melt. "I've missed us hanging out together goofing off together and being best friends" she says to him with slight smirk. "O-oh yeah…I-I've missed this too" he say's rubbing the back of his neck suddenly feeling a hot blush rushing over his cheeks. "_Did I just stutter, come on Bumi your losing your touch" _He thinks to himself as he stares into Lin's bright green jade eyes. "_Why does she do this to me…Why has she always done this to me…Why do I love her so much" _he thinks to himself again this time letting out a slight grunt. "You okay Boom?" Lin ask punching him in the shoulder giggling slightly. Bumi suddenly realizes what she just said and his arm registers the rough punch she just gave his shoulder. "I'm fine" he says with a wicked grin "And since when does Iron maiden metal pants giggle" he says with a little nudge to her stomach. "Since I've been hanging out with an idiot" she says laughing louder this time. Bumi just roles his eyes and wraps his arms around her tighter enjoying the rest of their night.

_**Back to present time**_

As Bumi nears the police station he suddenly snaps out oh his little day dream thinking of the night before. "Why didn't I just tell her how I felt last night" Bumi grumbles to himself "I am an idiot and she would never feel the same way…To her I'm just Bumi her best friend not Bumi the guy she loves or Bumi the guy that makes her melt!" this time talking to himself a little louder and noticing that a few heads were turning at his outburst. He continued walking at a brisk pace "_I want to tell her that I love her so badly, I want to tell her that I've always loved her…I've loved her since the moment she called me her best friend " _he thinks to himself as he enters the police station with a smile. "Is Chief Beifong in" he ask the desk clerk. "You missed her by just a few hrs Commander, she headed out early today" the clerk replies. "Oh okay I'll be on my way then" Bumi says with a wave to the desk clerk as he exit's the station. "_Looks like I'm gonna have to pay Linny a personal visit" _Bumi thinks to himself with a clever grin and pep in his step.

**Authors Note: Well that was chapter two of "Never Too Late"! I hope it was good and I hope the memory sequence and them talking to each other made sense. I've never written anything like that before so I hope you were all able to understand it or at least get the gist. Forgive me if this was quite shizzy :P And I hope Bumi and Lin aren't to out of character even though I'm pretty sure they are!**

**I would like to thank everyone so far for your positive reviews and kind words. It means a lot to be able to hear this from people considering I have never been very confident in my writing abilities and have never really had positive feedback on anything I've written before. So thank you all again it makes my day so much brighter :D **

**Next chapter will be back to Lin's POV and will get a little look into the dreams she's having about Bumi. I guess you all can kind of see that so far they both think the other doesn't like them in the way they do and are having trouble coming up with a way to confess their feelings to one another.**

**Again I would like to say that this story was inspired by the song "Never Too Late" By Secondhand Serenade. It's a beautiful song and if you listen to it you will most definitely catch a case of extreme feels. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Never Too Late, Chap. 3**

After waking up from her short nap Lin proceeded to take off her uniform and make herself a cup of tea. As Lin was making tea she could barely focus for thinking about the dream she had been having about Bumi. "Spirit's the man is even invading my dreams" she grumbles to herself while attempting to pour a cup of tea. "I'm going to have to tell him sooner or later, I cant keep getting distracted like this" Lin says as she thinks of ways to tell him about her feelings. "Damn it I'm the Chief of police, I arrest dangerous criminals and push limits but I cant even figure out how to tell a man that I love him!" she grumbles again this time slamming her teacup down on the table. "This isn't going to be all fairytales and unicorn shits, I cant just run into his arms, kiss him and tell him how much I love him" she says as she fiddles with her mother's space rock bracelet on her bicep. "All that bison crap is for lily livers, I'm just going to tell him straight up no chaser that I love him and if he doesn't feel the same way well fuck him" Lin says slamming her fist down on the table. Pouring herself another cup of tea to calm herself once again Lin thinks to herself "_But I really do hope he feels the same way"_. As she drinks she decides to let her mind wonder to the dream she was having about her and Bumi earlier.

_**Lin's dream**_

Lin was leaning against the railing of a United Forces ship looking out to the ocean admiring the view. Suddenly she feels a strong pair of arms wrap around her and hears a familiar chuckle in her ear. "Hey sweet sugar cakes" Bumi says tightening his hold on her. "Hi yourself Commander" Lin says to him leaning into his embrace loving the feeling of his arms around her. "I'm so glad you decided to come with me" he says while lightly kissing her neck. "Well I figured having to spend a whole two weeks in the Fire Nation… In the palace…. All by yourself would be a little lonely" she purred in his ear. "True, but you know you cant be away from this hot stuff for long" he says wildly running his hands through his hair. "Don't be so full of yourself" Lin says rolling her eyes with a smile tugging at her lips. "Come on Linny you know I am by far the sexiest man in the United Forces" Bumi says while flexing his muscles. Lin just laughed watching Bumi be the goof that he is. Suddenly out of the blue Bumi's lips crashed to hers in a heated kiss. Just simply loving the feeling of his rough but gentle lips on hers was enough to make her feel light as air while normally she felt so rooted.

_**Back to reality **_

Lin snapped back to reality the minute she realized she was holding onto her cup a little to tight and her hand felt like it was on fire. "Shit…" she says quickly setting down the hot cup and flailing her hand. "I swear how does this keep happening!" Lin says angrily. "All I do is keep getting distracted by him, just thinking about him! The fact that he is in my dreams is utterly disturbing in its own" she grumbles to herself. Now that her hand no longer felt like it had been lit aflame by a pissed off fire bender she sunk back into her thoughts. The dream she had was so real, she felt as if she could still feel his lips on hers and his strong arms around her. But suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knocking on her door and feeling a familiar heart beat standing outside it.

"Oh, of course this exactly what I need right now…. Thank you spirits thank you for blessing me with the shittiest luck in all of Republic City"

**Authors Note: Well hello again peoples, long time no update. I am so sorry for not updating sooner but I was dealing with a lot of stuff right after I posted the last chapter and plus this was a really tough chapter to write. But no excuses, I will try to be on time with the next one.**

**This chapter was really tough to write due to the fact I felt I wasn't really characterizing Lin very well. Especially with this and the dream scene, boy was that a rough one to do. It took me forever to come up with something for the dream and then I ended up kind of loosely basing it off a dream I had a while back. But still I hope it all made since and I hope you all enjoyed my crappiness, I try my best to at least be entertaining. **

**As always this fic was inspired by the song Never Too Late by Secondhand Serenade. Again I cant stress how much of an amazing song it is. GO LISTEN TO IT AND ENJOY THE FEELS WHAHAHHA! Till next time my lovelies. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Never Too Late, Chap 4**

As Bumi knocked on Lin's door waiting for her to answer so many thoughts were running through his mind. "_Okay maybe I can gather up my balls and tell her how I feel today…just got to work the Bumi charm and she'll be mine" _he thought while waiting for Lin to open the door. When the door opened up and he saw Lin in her tight tank top and sweat pants, he couldn't help but think how gorgeous she was, all he could do was stare.

"Are you going to stand there all day eyeballing me or are you going to come in?" Lin asked him with a slight smirk on her face. "O-Oh hi Lin, yeah I'm coming in" he says while walking past her into her apartment. "So any particular reason you stopped by or did you just miss me that much?" she said teasing him while heading to her kitchen. "Well I stopped by the station to visit you but the desk clerk told me you left early so I figured you wouldn't mind if I stopped by" he said watching her round the corner with two cups of tea. "Here" she basically flung the cup at him "I left work early today, there wasn't anything going on and I finished a weeks load of paper work within an hour or two so I thought I'd take off early" she said while taking a seat across from him.

They sat there for a while talking and enjoying each others company. Once Lin remembered the picture she found in her desk she got up to get it our of her uniform pants. "Oh yeah I found this today while I was looking through my desk" she said handing Bumi the picture. Bumi took the picture from her hand, eyes nearly bulging out of his head when he saw what it was. "Wow I cant believe you still have this old thing, Linny" he said with a chuckle remembering that night. "I completely forgot I still had it until I ran across it earlier" she said while taking a sip of her tea. "That was probably one of the best nights I ever had" Bumi said with a grin looking at the picture. "Yeah it was pretty fun, and I still cant believe you talked me into going with you" she said smiling over her cup of tea. "Well I knew you didn't want to stay on the island with Ten-Ten and just watch him meditate" he said now laughing. "True, that was very stuffy and boring and spirits knows I had no patience for meditation back then" Lin said now laughing along with him.

It was going good they were laughing. Remembering all the fun times they had together. "_Now's a good time to tell her. Spirits I hope I can do this and not make my self look even more like an ass than I usually am" _ Bumi thought to himself now getting a little bit more fidgety in his seat. "Bumi are you okay?" Lin asked with concern. "Oh I'm fine Lin, just thinking about something" he said trying to keep his cool grin plastered on. "Just spit it out Bumi I can tell you're lying" she said with a little more annoyance in her voice than she wanted. "Fine" he grumbled like a petulant child. He leaned forward from the seat he was in across from her and took her hand. Lin's breath hitched slightly at his touch. "_What is going to say? Oh spirits I hope he's not going to tell me that he's leaving already" _she thought to herself while trying to keep up her calm front. Bumi was staring into her eyes with an intensity to match a blazing fire. "_Alright time to do this" _Bumi thought to himself while gently squeezing her hand a little tighter.

"Lin" Bumi said with a slight pause "I just want to tell you how much these past six weeks spending time with you has meant to me". "Its been great for me too Boom" she said reaching over to give him a punch to the shoulder. "Over thr past few years being in the Fire Nation and being out at sea has been lonely not having you in my life" he said now tightening his grip on her hand a little more "I've missed my best friend so much". "I've missed you too, plus this city gets extremely boring with out you around" Lin said with a light chuckle. "Well no one can stir up trouble like the Boom master" he said with his wild grin. He cleared his throat and decided to get on with it. "Lin I guess what I'm trying to say is that you mean so much to me" Bumi said looking deep into her eyes trying to read the emotion coming from hers. "_Spirits is he trying to tell me he has feelings for me too?" _Lin thought to herself, her calm front fading slightly.

"Just hear me out Lin" Bumi said scooting closer to the edge of his seat. Lin made a very audible gulping noise and nodded her head slightly. "Okay… Lin I just want to tell you how you are one the most important people in my life" he said, now taking both of her hands in his. "You've always been that one steady person in my life that I knew would always have my back no matter what". Bumi was now having trouble reading the emotions on Lin's face. She had an odd mixture of shock and calm. So he decided to continue. "What I'm trying to say is, Lin, ever since I was teenager I have regretted not telling you how I felt sooner" he said while letting out a deep sigh. "Lin I love you" he said expecting her to slap him or kick him out of her place but there was no reaction at all.

Did the man that she love really just admit to her his true feelings? Lin was in complete shock. She couldn't move, couldn't bring herself to form a word. Barely being able to breathe, if she could describe the feeling she would say that it felt like she got trampled by sky bison. But she was happy, happy that he felt the same way. But she couldn't bring herself to move at this point. She felt Bumi let go of her hands and looked up to see a sad look on his face. "I knew you wouldn't feel the same way" he said with a sad sigh. "I'm sorry for dumping all this on you Lin" Bumi said now heading to her door. All she could do was sit and stare. Feeling like her body had been frozen in its place. She heard Bumi mumble something about all this being a mistake and then sound of her door latching shut.

With a barely heard whisper Lin managed to say "I love you too".

**Authors Note: Long time no update again for this story folks. I have no excuses other than the fact that I had no idea how I was going to make this chapter work. Also I hope you're all okay with the angst-y sort of turn it took. Don't worry people it will get better. This supposed to be a happy fic but I just ended up throwing in some spur of the moment angst because I freaking felt like it.**

**My Linumi feels have been pretty low lately so you can probably blame that and my extreme procrastination on this severely late update. Again I am super sorry. Also I am really sorry if there is any OOCness going on in here. I'm just super paranoid about that all the time.**

**As always this fic is inspired by the song "Never Too Late" by Secondhand Serenade.**

**Thanks for reading, Until next time my lovelies- Lala**


	5. Chapter 5

**Never To Late, Chap. 5**

Lin sat dumbfounded in her seat replaying all of the events that just happened in her mind. She literally just let the man that she loves walk away, after admitting his true feelings for her. She was happy, ecstatic actually but she couldn't get over how she just sat there frozen in place like an idiot. Lin knew and everyone who knows her personally knows that she isn't the best with lovey dovey situations and never has been. She's never been one great with expressing emotion, always choosing to lock it away on the inside and hold it in. No matter if it were good or bad, it was just something that she did. A defense mechanism she liked to refer to it as. She had walls built up all around her, but the only person who seemed to have the ability to break them down was Bumi.

"Bumi…" she spoke with a soft sigh. Why did she always do this? Why did she always manage to lock everyone out? Those were the questions that played over and over in her head. The one guy that she loved, truly loved, she just let walk away. The one person who could fully break those solid stone walls around her and the only person she would let do so. She got up out of her seat and picked up the picture of her and Bumi when they were teenagers. Looking at the picture she let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "I'm going to fix this, I'm going to make this right. I'm not letting you get away" Lin said as she walked into her bedroom and laying the picture down on her nightstand. She sat down on the edge of her bed, without even realizing she whispered "I love you, Bumi."

* * *

Bumi slowly walked down the streets away from Lin's apartment towards docks. You could tell he was upset by the small frown that was etched on his face. He couldn't believe that he just poured his heart out to her and she said nothing. He knew when he decided to tell her how he felt that she probably wouldn't feel the same way. He knew it would hurt when she didn't share his feelings back, but he didn't know that it would hurt like this. He literally felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest, like he was just a floating hollow shell in the wind. Lin was perfect and was everything he wanted, but apparently she just didn't feel the same about him. He continued walking until he arrived at the docks, boarding the ferry to the island with a small wave to the acolyte running it.

The ferry ride felt like it only took seconds to arrive at the island, but Bumi was just too caught up in his thoughts to even realize how long it actually took. The whole ride his thoughts were on what he was going to do now. He admitted his feelings for Lin and she didn't return them. He stayed behind while he let the rest of his fleet go back out to sea. Of course he stayed behind to catch a small break and spend time with his brother and his family but his main reason was so that he and Lin could spend more time together. Bumi stepped off the ferry with a deep sigh as started walking towards the main house where he was staying in the guest bedroom. Slowly he opened the door to the main house and walked in to find his brother sitting in the living area reading over a piece of paper and drinking a cup of tea.

"Back so soon, Bumi?" Tenzin asked as he looked up to see his older brother walking in. "Yeah, I think I'm turning in early tonight, Tenzin" Bumi replied as he started walking towards his room. Tenzin frowned slightly as he noticed this uncharacteristic glum mood his brother seemed to be in. "Are you alright, Bumi?" Tenzin asked this time with more concern in his voice. Yes his brother might be the older one but he still worried about him and especially when he wasn't in his typical bouncing off the walls wild man mood. "Yes, I'm fine, Tenzin. Now if you don't mind arrow head, I'm heading to bed. Tell the kids and Pema I said goodnight" Bumi managed to answer. Tenzin only rolled his eyes at his brothers use of an old nickname. "Alright" Tenzin said with a small amount of annoyance in his voice as he settled back down and began to read again.

Bumi walked into his room and sat down on the edge of his bed. He buried his face in his hands and ran them down his face slowly. Letting out a deep sigh, he knew he figured out what he was going to do. Reaching over to grab the phone on his night stand, he dialed the number to talk to an operator. "Hello, Yes this is Commander Bumi, I would like for you to send a wire to my fleet and tell them to send my ship back in. I'm done with my break, thank you very much" he hung up the phone and started taking his boots off. "No real need for me to stay here anymore" he said as he threw his boots across the room. Bumi laid back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling for a while. "But I do love you so much, Lin. I always will" he spoke softly to himself as he closed his eyes. He would be leaving Republic City soon.

**Authors Note: Long time no update my fellow Linumi shippers. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Sorry if there is too much focus on Bumi in this chapter, but I did manage to get some Lin in here at the beginning. I hope you liked seeing Tenzin in here for little bit. I kind of had to give him a small part because I absolutely love me some Tenzin. Also don't worry it will get happy and fluffy again, just be patient with me.**

**As always this story was inspired by the song "Never Too Late" by Secondhand Serenade**

**Till next time my lovelies- Lala **


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